Las Vegas Restaurant Guide

In early 1978, the original Vega's Cafe opened its doors to the world in the Hyde Park Shopping Center located on the SE corner of West Charleston Boulevard and Arville Street. The restaurant began in a single storefront unit occupying approximately 1000 square feet and able to accommodate 36 customers at a time. Celia and her husband Ernie Calderon had just moved from San Diego, California to Las Vegas to open a"Tortilleria"(a Tortilla Factory) but decided instead to purchase the recently opened restaurant from Celia's brother .Celia's brother had selected their families surname "VEGA" to name the restaurant, so the existing name was still perfect!

With Celia and Ernie now operating the restaurant and introducing Las Vegans to Celia's unique Mexican cuisine, Vega's Cafe soon became more and more successful and developed a deserved reputation for consistently exceptional food. Celia had two young children (Silvia and Ernie Jr.) and a husband that were very important to her and she would feed them the same food she served out of her kitchen. She would not serve anything that she did not eat herself. To that end, Celia never cooks with lard or pork and her customers certainly appreciated the quality and care taken in preparing Celia's signature Mexican dishes. No matter what a patron ordered from the menu, Celia's cooking always tasted wonderful and her customers never left the table unsatisfied. Long time patrons remember with fondness the early days (before Celia and Ernie had a liquor License) when customers had to walk to the bar next door to purchase their libations, then "Brown Bag" back to the Cafe.